J-blip: flu report app

January 11th, 2013 by Felicity Hughes

The U.S. is in the midst of a particularly severe flu season and Google’s trend map for Japan shows a near-vertical spike in flu searches in the last weeks. Apart from washing your hands regularly, eating healthily and staying fit, there’s not much you can do to prevent getting infected. Or is there?

A new Android app from Docomo called “Your Area’s Influenza Report” allows users to keep an eye on the spread of influenza in their own locality and, if they’re thinking of taking a trip, check ahead of time to see if that area is an influenza hotspot or not.

Felicity Hughes is a freelance journalist who has written articles for The Japan Times, Metropolis magazine and The Guardian. She enjoys hunting down trends and relishes ripping the plastic wrapping off shiny new stuff. Her CV lives here.